Nov. 29, 2016

Surface Warrior - Remembering Ernest Evans

"In no engagement of its entire history has the United States Navy shown more gallantry, guts and gumption than in those two morning hours between 0730 and 0930 off Samar," - Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison in his seminal "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II" regarding the Battle of Samar.I first read those words long before

Oct. 6, 2016

An Iconic Figure to Remember, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr.

Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., a U.S. Navy admiral, whose naval career extended from World War II to the Vietnam War, was the youngest admiral to serve as Chief of Naval Operations.As a young man, one of his greatest desires was to become a doctor as both his parents were. But in 1939 he was accepted into the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. In

May 19, 2016

Balancing Act: History and Technology in a Modern Navy

At the Navy League's Sea Air Space Exposition this year, I was fortunate to sit on a panel with peers from the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps. The question was how today's service men and women seize history's lessons to tackle today's leadership and technology challenges. With a little more than a year as the Director of the Naval History and

Oct. 17, 2014

Remembering the First Black Women Naval Officers

"Navy to admit Negroes into the WAVES," so read the newspaper headlines Oct. 19, 1944. For the first time black women would be commissioned naval officers as members of the Navy's female reserve program.The program first made news July 30, 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law. Their official nickname was WAVES, an acronym

Sept. 11, 2014

9/11: The First Act of Defiance against the Enemies of Freedom: A Sailor's Experience at the Pentagon

A combined graphic images of USS New York (LPD 21), USS Somerset (LPD 25) and USS Arlington (LPD 24) all named in honor of the events of September 11, 2001. (Graphic Image by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Clifford L. H. Davis, Naval Histor...

Aug. 2, 2014

PT 59: The PT Boat You Didn't Know About

It may have looked like a speedboat, but beware anything that might threaten its mission. Loaded with two twin .50 cal. M2 Browning machine guns, two 40 mm guns (fore and aft) and four single .30 and .50 cal. machine guns, the water craft had the power to destroy any obstacle that got in its way. That was the power of PT-59.A former Motor Boat